The Last Englishmen
Page 37
In the future … precedence over American. Coll 37/11 (1) Northern India: Mount Everest; British Expeditions 1933–1936. BL: IOR/PS/12/4242.
“Almost every nation … they have failed.” Unsworth, Everest, 111.
The British had obliged … Everest via Tibet in return. Hansen, “The Dancing Lamas of Everest.”
“The first, most anxious … depend upon him.” London Times, September 3, 1932.
The flight over Everest’s … thirty miles square. Fellowes et al., First over Everest, v–vi.
“The chief aim of the Marquis … TO HELL WITH RAMSAY MACDONALD.” Pugh, Hurrah for the Blackshirts, 190, 188.
In the opening montage … their astonishment. Wings over Everest, NLS.
Climbing to 19,000 … summit from Makalu’s. Blacker, “The Mount Everest Flights.”
The altimeter showed … handshakes, and backslapping. “Wings Over Everest,” NLS.
A spokesman for … last penetralia.” Isserman, Fallen Giants, 160, citing the Times, April 4, 1933.
He’d also done … simultaneous intrusions. Radhakrishna, J. B. Auden, 55, 121.
The talk was all … swagger. L. R. Wager to JBA, April 25, 1933. BERG.
Bill Wager fit Hinks’s … East Greenland coast. Biographical Memoirs of the Fellows of the Royal Society, Laurence Rickard Wager (1940–1965), 358–85. rsbm.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/13/358.
Until the final roster … this tactless. Shipton, Six Mountain Travel Books, 395–96.
But for his triumphant … to the newspapers. Isserman, Fallen Giants, 151–58.
“We must have a leader … to the nails of his toes.” Ibid., 157. Citing Francis Younghusband’s letter to William Goodenough, August 10, 1932, in Mount Everest expedition archives. RGS.
There were striking … kill something. Ruttledge, Everest, 6.
This debate began … go over well. L. R. Wager to JBA [May 1933]. BERG.
Eric Shipton joked … getting bedsores. Shipton, That Untravelled World, 77.
Only Bill Wager … salt in his wounds. L. R. Wager to JBA, April 25, 1933. BERG.
A fully recovered Bill Wager … Mallory’s ice ax. Ruttledge, Everest, 1933, 138.
In winter, high winds … monsoon conditions. L. R. Wager, “Mount Everest’s Weather in 1933.”
Down on the East … like a shroud. Ruttledge, “The Mount Everest Expedition, 1933.”
During the night … to Smythe. Shipton, Six Mountain Travel Books, 390–91.
Smythe might have … descended on him. Shipton, That Untravelled World, 173.
Two weeks earlier … in an hour. Mason, “The Problem of Mount Everest.” Ruttledge, Everest, 1933, 160.
The Dalai Lama … guardian deities. Coll 37/11 (1) Northern India: Mount Everest; British expeditions 1933–36. BL: IOR/PS/12/4242.
But Eric Shipton … get a foothold. Shipton, Six Mountain Travel Books, 377, 395–97.
Meanwhile the air … prevailed elsewhere. Fellowes et al., First over Everest, 143.
Around Everest … note of triumph. Michael Spender, review of The Pilot’s Book of Everest. PSA.
Bill Wager blamed Ruttledge … he’d known him. L. R. Wager to JBA, April 25, 1933. BERG.
8. Goddess Mother of the World
While in Calcutta … 1936 summit attempt. “Announcements,” Science, 81, (1935).
Two years after … taken a shine. Perrin, Shipton and Tilman, 245.
He found Bengalis insufferable. H. W. Tilman, “Diaries 1934–1967.” Collection Number 02456, AHCUW.
Where Tilman was … splayed stance like a penguin. Philip Spender’s notes on meeting Eric Shipton, October 23, 1967. PSA.
Tilman was the son … easy affability. Perrin, Shipton and Tilman, 247.
(Tilman called her “The Holy”). Tilman, “Diaries 1934–1967.” Collection Number 02456. AHCUW.
On Shipton’s return … he countered. Shipton, Six Mountain Travel Books, 401.
Shipton was thereby … on Everest. Ibid., 403–4.
Wager advised Shipton … close companionship.” Shipton, That Untravelled World, 95.
His wife, Erica, hadn’t taken … he was away. Spender, “1935 Everest Journal.” PSA. Except where otherwise noted, this is the main source for my narrative of the expedition, but I have only cited page numbers for direct quotes. Michael’s recollections would make their way into Auden and Isherwood’s play, The Ascent of F6.
“the top” … “No controversy for me.” Spender, “1935 Everest Journal,” 7. PSA.
“The less said about to-day the better.” Ibid., 14. PSA.
Even Tilman declared … ever experienced. Tilman, “Diaries 1934–1967.” Collection Number 02456. AHCUW.
“Dear, dear E, if only one could meet you at the end of a day’s march.” Spender, “1935 Everest Journal,” 14. PSA.
Many of the Sherpas … of the World.” Norgay, Tiger of the Snows, 20.
At their good-bye meal … New Zealander’s legs. Astill, Mount Everest, 130–31.
“Western ways leave behind nothing but unhappiness.” Perrin, Shipton and Tilman, 251.
“silly medievalism.” Ibid., 253.
What will I do … into our lives. Spender, “1935 Everest Journal,” 7. PSA. Spender, “Mount Everest, 1938.”
The shepherd’s wife … points awaited. Spender, “Tibetan Tent.” In Michael’s diary account, he writes that he shared their meal. In the Spectator, he says he made excuses and left.
“O Gawd! O Gawd!” Spender, “1935 Everest Journal,” 59. PSA.
Dawa Tendrup … Everest in 1933. Mason, “Notes.” HJ 8 (1935).
After a two-day trek … another glacial valley. J. B. Auden, “An Excursion to Gangotri.” This is the principal source for this section.
The Boys waited patiently … the director. Elsie Few’s account of WHA’s filming of the New Year’s party at 38 Upper Park Road in Rogers Papers, 8121/10. TGA.
The GPO left him … interested in making. WHA to JBA, February 24, 1936. BERG.
He did enjoy … a lyricist. Pery, The Affectionate Eye, 66.
There would also be … while at Oxford? WHA to JBA, February 24, 1936. BERG.
Wystan had complained … heard of. Carpenter, W. H. Auden, 78. Spender, W. H. Auden, 48.
“We are beginning to make ourselves look very ridiculous” and subsequent quotes from the Morning Post, London, October 17, 1936.
The decision to limit … chauvinism. Ruttledge, Everest, 11–12.
9. I Spy
According to the book … was its flower. Aberigh-Mackay, Twenty-One Days, 4–5.
At six feet four the 2nd Marquess … was a very tall flower. Snow, People on Our Side, 40.
The Daily Mail … regional autonomy. Birla, In the Shadow of the Mahatma, 161, 163.
As before … over to baboos. Glendevon, Viceroy at Bay, 109.
Secretly, Linlithgow … painted lilac. Muggeridge, Chronicles, 44.
The Calcutta residence … neglect of duties. Glendevon, Viceroy at Bay, 92.
The king found his letters … tiresome. Wavell, Wavell: The Viceroy’s Journal, 11.
To arrange a meeting … could do. Scott, Time to Speak, 69, 75, 76.
Periodically, the strain … they had. Ibid., 82. See also Yates and Chester, The Troublemaker.
It was during his … of the British Empire. Michael Carritt, “Tour Diary, Tangail,” BL: Mss Eur D 1172/4. Michael Carritt (former ICS), BL: IOR/L/PJ/12/618, File 1209/38. Michael Carritt, Indian Civil Service, Bengal 1930–1939, Communist underground worker, notebooks containing notes on CP organization in India (1936–37); twelve page memo, “Notes on Selected Carritt Documents,” Inventory no. 111.58, Report no. 8. CP/IND/CP/INC/MONT/7/4. LHASC.
If Carritt dismissed … in the first place. Spender, World within World, 77.
Every once in a while … decency sustained. Carritt, Mole in the Crown, 80.
A police officer had once … inflicted upon him. Scotland Yard Report of Meeting of Indian League, Holborn Hall, Easter Sunday,
April 13, 1941. “[Michael John Carritt] discussed the treatment of prisoners and torture of those sentenced to death by police intent on obtaining the names of accomplices. Carritt said he had obtained these facts from the police officer himself, who described with considerable gusto the psychological reaction of the condemned man. [T]he speaker was extremely calm and he made his points in a very matter of fact way. Whether [Carritt] intended to do so or not he conveyed the impression that he was making one or two disclosures in sorrow rather than in anger and suggesting that he could disclose much more if he wanted.” Michael John Carritt former ICS.: association with Communist Party of Great Britain. BL: IOR/L/PJ/12/618, File 1209/38; Apr. 1940–Nov. 1948.
How many spies … to sign it. Humphry House, I Spy with My Little Eye, 8. Self-published.
Carritt’s superiors … seized for study. Opinion of the Public Prosecutor Calcutta regarding the mode of disposal of properties seized and classified under the following heads: a. literature which are proscribed, b. literature not proscribed but objectionable, c. literature which are innocuous. Special Branch file no. 12885. PMROC.
Carritt was meant … they’d been sent. Scott, Time to Speak, 67.
The Comintern had previously … represent the masses. Overstreet and Windmiller, Communism in India, 514.
Carritt had hoped … “put into the picture.” Carritt, Mole in the Crown, 130–33.
Susobhan was just as steeped … eagerly discussed. Sarkar, Essays in Honour, 22.
On this particular … Gandhi simultaneously. Ghosh, Parichay-er Adda, March 27, 1936, 129. Sarkar, Essays in Honour, 32.
There followed a lot of pointless … Eritrea! Sarkar, Essays in Honour, 30.
But Susobhan … England desired it. Ghosh, Parichay-er Adda, March 27, 1936, 128.
The adda diarist … Communism does.” Ghosh, Parichay-er Adda, April 17, 1936, 129.
Chief Secretary P. C. Joshi … envelopes of money. Sarkar, Essays in Honour, 6.
Susobhan and Hiren-da … Soviet Russia’s. Ghosh, Parichay-er Adda, April 17, 1936, 129.
Sudhin Datta and … Bourgeois Party. Ghosh, Parichay-er Adda, April 23, 1937, 294.
Sudhin said he fully … communism arrived. SD to JBA, March 19, 1937. BERG.
When the Comintern … about Stalin. Sarkar, Essays in Honour, 32.
That evening all the … talking at once. Ghosh, Parichay-er Adda, April 17, 1936, 128.
Otherwise Apurba liked to … Writers’ Building. Sinclair, “A Memoir,” 54. PSA.
His department head … he went out. Scott, Time to Speak, 76.
Humphry’s watchers … about many things.” House, I Spy with My Little Eye, 5.
Clearing his throat … their way home. Ghosh, Parichay-er Adda, April 17, 1936, 129.
One of Michael John Carritt’s first … passed along. Carritt, Mole in the Crown, 141–42.
Though John’s voice … a different cloth. MC to JBA [March 1940]. BERG.
He saw nothing funny … Union Jack. Scott, Time to Speak, 66.
They had an easier … endure forever. Carritt, Mole in the Crown, 85.
But then he would … mango and neem. Ibid., 85–86.
Would Gandhi sign … with gold buttons. Aberigh-Mackay, Twenty-One Days, 13.
The throne room … two Oval Offices. Snow, People on Our Side, 40.
A formal application … make it easy. Rao, India’s Freedom Movement, 64.
10. The Moscow Agent
Wystan quipped he was … dining at the Ritz. Spender, W. H. Auden, 63.
Stephen Spender had been quick to … insufficiently dramatized. Parker, Isherwood, 334.
John, to whom … into a monastery. WHA to JBA, October 4 or 11, 1936; he uses the expression sans feu et sans reproche. BERG.
In London … eager-to-please court poet. Carpenter, W. H. Auden, 195. Spender, W. H. Auden, 28.
Wystan would either … a terrible driver. WHA to E. R. Dodds. MSS. Eng. c. 6766, e. 3302. BOD.
When Wystan left … saw him off at Victoria. Laughton, William Coldstream, 40.
Later, Louis would say … had been color blind. Stallworthy, Louis MacNeice, 214; MacNeice, The Strings Are False, 171.
On their return to London … through with it. Sharp, memoir chronology, PSA.
Louis returned … into a troubled sleep. MacNeice, I Crossed the Minch, 21.
“He simply mustn’t risk himself,” HH to JBA, February 26, 1937. BERG.
It was only on … revelation to him. JBA to SD [November 1936]. BERG.
Calcutta might appear … usurp its own. JBA to SD [November 1936]. BERG.
It was indeed wicked … he was a coward. WHA to JBA, January 1932 as cited in Davenport-Hines, Auden, 157.
And however much bile … remind them of those. JBA to SD [November 1936]. BERG.
Sudhin had long been schooled … inner turmoil the more turbulent.” SD to JBA, November 20, 1936. BERG.
He admitted he was … to be forgiven. JBA to HH, March 7, 1937. BERG.
Like Sudhin, Humphry didn’t … Europe or America would. HH to JBA, March 20, 1937. BERG.
It would be a terrible pity … start on his book? SD to JBA, March 19, 1937. BERG.
Finally, it was a grave mistake … moment’s consideration?” SD to JBA, March 29, 1937. BERG.
While John was off … argue about politics. HH to JBA, February 26, 1937. BERG.
When Humphry told Hiren-da … got very excited. HH to JBA, January 7, 1937. BERG.
We’ll hear how … holy chaps. JBA to HH, March 7, 1937. BERG. Slightly edited for clarity and sense.
Soon after Humphry … Humphry an idea. Mukherji, “The Dickens World Revisited.”
He would immortalize … John and Sudhin. HH to JBA, February 26, 1937. BERG.
Humphry’s new … “Jesus what a town!” HH to JBA, March 20, 1937. BERG.
With the grim news … know any better. MC to JBA [early March], 1937. BERG.
“Carritt, old boy … they are saying.” Carritt, Mole in the Crown, 174–76; see also Carritt, “India Before the Storm.”
“Carritt, old boy … Don’t worry.” Carritt, Mole in the Crown, 174–76.
Carritt had once feared … a “babu raj.” MC to JBA [early March 1937]. BERG.
Instead, the movement … workers and peasants. MC to JBA [early March], 1937. BERG.
Glassblowers, tea workers … salary increase. Special Branch files (one for each union). PMROK.
“For weeks we haven’t … named Humphry House. Carritt, Mole in the Crown, 175–77.
“What does a Moscow … international status.” Ibid., 177–78.
“You are a literary man … Police (IB) Calcutta.” Ibid., 184–87.
“I tremble to think … Mulk Anands.” Berlin, Flourishing, 186, 262.
Carritt had first visited … Kanchenjunga. Carritt, Mole in the Crown, 39.
His landlady had greeted … diagnosed them both. MC to JBA [July 1937]. BERG.
“The Lakes are a training … pukka sahibs instead. “The Lakes are a training ground for ambition; they breed ideals. He came to Bengal to realise them. The future held his liberalism’s death, a large car, a thousand rupees a month saved, itch of inquisitiveness, gloating over secret documents by a policeman’s lamplight.” House, I Spy with My Little Eye, 2.
Maybe his own work … very very bourgeois.” MC to JBA [July 1937]. BERG.
Carritt’s elation … settle in the dunes. Carritt, Mole in the Crown, 189.
The tall chap was … to propaganda work. Kutsobin, Ajoy Kumar Ghosh, 18–19.
Come meet Our Friend here. Carritt, Mole in the Crown, 189.
He took notes … than a Popular one. Michael Carritt Papers, CP/IND/MISC/3/2. LHASC; Carritt, Mole in the Crown, 188–92.
Events in Europe … could protect them. Michael John Carritt (former ICS), BL: IOR/L/PJ/12/618.
For this reason alone, Bose … he to play? Carritt, Mole in the Crown, 192.
Neither man … where was it? Howe, Anticolonialism in British Politics, 71�
�77. Carritt never did learn what this mysterious man’s real name was or who he later became. He never saw either man ever again. By the end of 1937, riven by sectarian squabbles within the Communist Party and distracted by events in Europe, Bradley’s League Against Imperialism was disbanded.
11. In the Ice Mountains
The sound of … in a few days. Spender, “1937 Karakoram Journal,” 2 vols. PSA. Unless otherwise indicated, this is the main source for this chapter; only direct quotations are cited.
Somewhere along the … in the field. Isserman, Fallen Giants, 148–49.
As with Germany’s … Hitler happy. Ibid., 135.
Baltoro Glacier in short pants. Shipton, Six Mountain Travel Books, 176.
A letter from Granny … to Nanga Parbat. Granny Schuster to MS [1937]. PSA.
At the point of … a moment of panic. Michael Spender, “The End of an Expedition.” The Spectator, December 10, 1937. PSA.
In the course of … was the Aghil Range. Shipton, Six Mountain Travel Books, 249, 162.
The exact location … conceivably take place. Younghusband, “The Problem of the Shaksgam Valley.”
After fixing the position … might be dangerous. Shipton, Six Mountain Travel Books, 164.
The chief bogey … no-man’s-land. Shipton, Tilman, Spender, and Auden, “The Shaksgam Expedition, 1937.”
In Shipton and Tilman’s … geological equipment. Auden, Reminiscences, 42.
The Darjeeling Sherpas took pride … large, heavy boots. Norgay, Tiger of the Snows, 21–22, and interview with Dhamey Norgay in Bhutan, 2016.
Sherpas never grew … often a target. Shipton, Six Mountain Travel Books, 171.
There was no mention … any further concern. When Stephen asked him if he didn’t find it dreadful leaving his son, Michael said, “Oh I knew I’d have to do this, so I had not been paying any attention to him for some time.” Babington Smith interview with Rose Macaulay DFG 5783, May 1956/7. MED.
“Such fun to go exploring!” Spender, “1937 Karakoram Journal,” vol 1, 30. PSA.
“like a cathedral spire above the roofs of a provincial town.” Shipton, Tilman, Spender, and Auden, “The Shaksgam Expedition, 1937,” 332.
“There arranged before me … ever reached before.” French, Younghusband, 55.
“Na jaayega” … “Ham jaenge.” Spender, “1937 Karakoram Journal,” vol. 1, 45. PSA.